Author's Note: Finally! Finally I updated! Can you hear the chorus of Angels? It's a miracle!
Ha. Sorry. Anyway, I am so so sorry about the long wait. My life has been busy, what with moving,quitting my old job, going back to school, and getting a new job. It's no wonder I took so long to get this blasted chapter up! I'm also working on some other projects, including a spin off from this series, and they have been more in the forefront of my mind lately, so I've kind of ignored this story. I'm sorry! But I'm back on track now, and schedule willing (I'm running 14-hour days: 5 hours of school, 1 hour lunch, 5 hours of work, 1 hour of homework and 2 hours of studying), I will get this story finished! All 42+ chapters!
I also want to mention something that my friend and reviewer pointed out to me. Starting in Chapter 8, Skipper, Ranger, and Warrior have been conversing with TJ in English wheras before they only spoke Pokèspeak. They have not suddenly mutated into Preteen Mutant Ninja Pokèmon. What is happening is that TJ, being highly adept at picking up social cues and body language thanks to his total lack of popularity, is able to slowly decipher the way a specific person communicates. Over time he can read the hidden meanings behind what a person is saying, so that given enough time around such a person it is very hard to lie to him. This ability has been focused on Skipper, Ranger and Warrior. Having spent so much time with the three, he has deciphered pitch, body language and social cues to understand what they are saying. It's similar to what Ash and Pikachu do, but the Kanes do it to a much greater degree of accuracy; Pikachu never told a joke to Ash, or got into an argument. I hope I've cleared that up for everyone.
And as a little side note, KFP is my attempt to cleverly mock Kentucky Fried Chicken. It stands for Kanto Fried Pidgey.
Disclaimer: I do not own Pokémon, Houenn, May, or any derivitave thereof. I do own
my character TJ.
Note:
"Speaking"
Thinking
Pokéspeak
Psychic conversations
Flashbacks
SHOUTING!
Chapter 9:
Oldale Arrival
A flock of Taillow passed over a strip of forested river and angled towards the setting sun. Skimming the fields and roads the flock widened, and then scattered as they reached Oldale. The leader hovered for a moment, surveying his realm, then lazily circled down to his trainer's home at the edge of town. Alighting on the roof, he gazed into the sun. The last light of the day set the house in sharp profile, the shadow reaching to the southern gate. And through that gate strolled the Kanes.
OOOOOOOO
"Are we there yet?"
TJ sighed. "Skipper, how long has it been since you asked that question?"
Skipper thought for a moment. "Umm, a while?"
"Twenty-five seconds, Skipper," said TJ dryly. "And how many times have you asked?"
"I dunno, a few?"
"About six hundred times, Skipper. That's a lot. Do you really think asking it again is going to cause Oldale to just suddenly appear?"
"Umm, no? I mean yes? Is that a trick question? Are we there yet?"
"Skipper! Did you-"
"We're here," said Ranger.
"What?"
"I said, we're here."
"Whoa," said Skipper, "I can't believe that worked!"
And he dashed off into Oldale. Ranger sighed wearily and trotted off after him.
Warrior, still perched on TJ's shoulder, smiled. "Kinda makes you miss our breakfast arguments, doesn't it?"
TJ shook his head. "Amazingly, yes! I don't understand this at all, he was so shy all the time we were at the house, quiet and peaceful. And now he's just like a five-year-old on the day after Halloween!"
"What's Halloween?"
"Oh, uh, it's a holiday back home. Lots of symbolism, but the gist is you dress up in a costume, go door to door, and people give you candy."
"Candy? You'll have to take us sometime!"
"You! Trick or Treating! That's the last thing I need, you gorging yourself until you're sick, Skipper becoming more energetic than a hydrogen atom, and Ranger…well, I don't know what would happen to Ranger, but if he starts acting like a living being as opposed to the green hockey stick he is now, it'd throw our whole family dynamic off! No way, I am not taking you three trick or treating."
"Awww! But just think about how good it would be for our rehab! Officer Jenny said we were supposed to be acclimated to human companionship! I think it's a good idea!"
"You think with an organ other than your brain, Warrior. I know exactly why you think it's a good idea."
"Oh YEAH?" snarled Warrior, "well at least I don't babble like an idiot around a certain someone!"
"I did not BABBLE LIKE AN IDIOT, Warrior! I was perfectly fine around May!"
"Hahahahaha!" Chirps of laughter floated down from out of nowhere. Instantly TJ and Warrior stopped fighting and tried to find its source. "Who's there," called Warrior.
A little Taillow fluttered down from the rooftop of a nearby house and perched on a fencepost. He chuckled snidely. "Seems you're a bit confused little chick! Barking insults at your trainer like that, you might just get ideas not fit for your station."
Warrior bristled. "Little chick? Who the hell are you to talk! You're so scrawny KFP wouldn't buy you for decoration! What d'you mean ideas above my station!"
"Young upstart! I run the Taillow of this town! You can't talk to me that way!" The Taillow seemed upset by Warrior's insult. "You think that he's your friend, but in reality we're all just here to get ahead, and no one who wants to get ahead can have friends!"
"Hey!" said TJ, "Warrior is my friend, and you're wrong. We're family, and we're going straight to the top! And I don't give a rattata's ass if you do run the Taillow of this town, you're getting on my nerves! Buzz off!"
The Taillow stared at the two for a few minutes, and then fell off his fence post, howling with laughter. "You two, straight to the top! Well, that makes you sound just like every other goldeenhorn who comes through this town! The only difference is you're a whole lot dumber! Hahahahahahahahaha! Hell, I bet you couldn't even take me down right now, what with that bandage and all!"
TJ and Warrior glared. The Taillow noticed and fluttered back up to his fence post. Something horrible might have happened at that moment, but fate intervened.
"Feathers! Suppertime!"
The Taillow looked behind him, then turned back to TJ and Warrior. "Lucky for you I prefer eating to fighting. See you around, Magikarp brains. Have fun finding your way around town in the dark!"
Starting, TJ looked up to see that it was dark, almost nighttime, and they were very lost. He and Warrior exchanged nervous looks and spun around, looking for the Pokĕmon Center.
"Skipper? Ranger? Where are you!"
"Kaz! Kaz, come on! It's getting late!"
"Hello? Someone else out there?"
At that moment the light sensors in the streetlamps flickered the bulbs on. Standing beneath one of them was a tall teenager, about sixteen. She had dark brown hair, green eyes, and was wearing a rather strange ensemble: a magenta tank-top, denim jacket, jean skirt, a pair of leather boots, fingerless gloves, and a phoenix-charm silver necklace. She also had on a headband with two feathers that radiated slightly. They might have been gold. She had two belts, one for her Pokĕballs and one for her other items. She spared the two of them a perfunctory glance and began scanning the night.
TJ shot Warrior an askance look, and was answered with a confused shrug. He strode up to the girl. "Excuse me miss..." He waited for her to acknowledge him. She continued to search, completely ignoring their presence. TJ cleared his throat. "Umm, excuse me miss. Miss? Miss? Ah, excuse me! Hey! Are you listening to me? HEY! EXCUSE ME, LADY! I'M TRYING TO TALK TO YOU! HELLO! ANYBODY HOME!"
The girl sighed impatiently. "Yes, I can hear you. What do you want?"
"Jirachi H. Celebi, lady! It's rude to ignore someone when they're talking! I just wanted to ask you directions! Is everyone in this town completely shucked up?"
"What? WHAT did you call me?"
"you heard perfectly well what I called you, and I-what!"
Warrior leaned close to TJ's ear. "We've had a long day, and we're all tired. I think we should just get directions and go to the Pokĕmon center. There's no need to pick a fight with someone right now. Just calm down man."
TJ took a deep breath and let it out slowly. Warrior was right, he did need to calm down, get food and rest. He'd be better in the morning. "Look," he said, "I'm sorry about what I said to you. It's been a long day, our welcome in this town has been arctic, and we got separated from the other half of our crew. I just want to find the rest of my family and get to the Pokĕmon center, and I let my anger get the better of me. I'm sorry. Could you give us directions?"
The girl still seemed a bit angry. "I'm a little busy right now, ask me later."
"What? Come on! It'll take you five minutes at best! What could possibly be so important as to preempt us?"
The girl glared. "For your information," she spat acidly, "I'm trying to find my Mightyena, Kaz. He left this morning, and hasn't come back since. So if you'll excuse me, I'm a little busy!" and with that she spun around and continued to scan the night.
"Oh wow, I'm sorry," said TJ. "I had no idea—Is there anything we can do to help?"
"I doubt it."
TJ thought for a moment. "Warrior?"
"Yo!"
"How wide can you spread your Ember?"
Warrior grinned. "Pretty wide. Heads up!"
"Hey lady."
"What?"
"Duck."
The girl ducked just in time to avoid Warrior's Ember attack. Like a fire-eater at a circus, Warrior tensed his beak so that his embers scattered in a wide pattern across the road. Before their light died, they revealed a set of tracks heading North by Northeast.
"There!" cried the girl. "Light up that section of road again!"
Warrior spewed Embers again, this time focusing on the particular portion of road that contained the tracks. Looking at them, TJ and Warrior readily identified some of them as Mightyena tracks thanks to the previous encounter that afternoon, and the others quite clearly as Mudkip and Treecko.
"There, you see? We did help. I'll bet anything that those tracks belong to your Kaz."
"You're probably right!" said the girl. "And they lead straight towards the Pokĕmon Center! Oh no, he's probably hurt, I have to get there right away!"
"Mind if we follow you? That is our destination, after all. And I'm hoping my other two brothers will be there."
"Oh, of course not! Thank you so much, I'm sorry I yelled at you."
"No problem," said TJ. "By the way, My name's TJ. TJ Kane. The spirited little fire turkey sitting on my shoulder is Warrior Kane. It's a pleasure to meet you." TJ held out his hand.
The girl regarded his hand for a moment, then grabbed it and shook vigorously. "The pleasure's all mine. I'm Samantha McPhoenix, at your service."
TJ smiled. Samantha smiled. Then the two of them laughed.
"I am not a fire turkey," whined Warrior quietly.
OOOOOOOO
The three of them arrived at the Pokèmon Center several minutes later. To the Kanes' great delight, Skipper and Ranger were there. Nurse Joy looked at Warrior's neck and pronounced that TJ's nursing skills were superb, and would he be interested in a job? And to Samantha's great delight, Kaz the Mightyena was there as well.
"Crawled in here shortly after you left," said Nurse Joy. "Not in horrible shape, but he had some terrible injuries. Strange, if you ask me. Never seen anything like them."
"Oh no!" moaned Samantha, "is he all right? Will he recover? Can I see him?"
"Oh, he'll be just fine," assured Nurse Joy. "His injuries aren't life-threatening. But you won't be able to see him for a few hours. He needs to rest right now, let the medicine do its job."
"Well then, I'll stay right here until he's well enough to leave. And maybe I can get some answers out of him as to what happened."
"Well, as near as I can tell he drank something that had a high acid content in it, because his mouth and throat are badly burned. He was drooling blood when he came in, but I covered his mouth in an antiseptic salve that should coat it and speed up the healing process. You can ask him what happened tomorrow."
"How soon will he be well enough to leave?"
"Tomorrow."
"What about tonight?"
Nurse Joy sighed wearily. "If you insist, you can pick him up at ten o'clock, and not a minute sooner. And you would do so under protest from me."
"How's eleven work?"
"Miss McPhoenix! I do have to sleep sometime! How will I check you out at eleven P.M. if I'm sound asleep in bed!"
"Hey," jumped in TJ, "I can check her out."
The two women looked at him as if he had just announced he had a Clefable growing out his rear. "You can what?" asked Nurse Joy.
"I can check her out. I used to be Professor Birch's Aide, I'm familiar with the Pokèmon Center software that you run. I'll help Samantha as repayment for helping me find this place, she'll get her Pokèmon back as soon as possible so that she's not worried, and you get to sleep. Everybody's happy. What do you say?"
"Ahh, well, you see, I, um," Nurse Joy hemmed and hawed. "It's against procedure, you see, but I, well, you do seem like a decent person, helping her find her Mightyena like that, but I really shouldn't…" In truth Joy desperately wanted to just go to sleep. It was making her cranky and callous, and she could tell, but she was so tired. Yet she felt for the girl, she really did. How many trainers like her did she see daily, worried silly about their friends, sometimes the only friends they had? And the boy did seem to be honest, if their story was to be believed…She was too tired to deal with this. Nurse Joy made a snap decision. "All right, I'll let you check her out. But I want your trainer ID's, just in case."
"Sounds good to me."
"Fine."
OOOOOOOO
TJ and Warrior moseyed on towards the Cafeteria. They had invited Samantha, but she had declined. "I want to be here in case anything happens," she said.
As soon as they walked into the table-filled room, Warrior perked up. "I smell food!" he cried.
"Hey! 'Bout time you showed up! I was about to eat your share!" shouted Skipper.
"Touch my food and you're dead!" answered Warrior. He hopped off TJ's shoulder and scrabbled over to the table where Ranger and Skipper sat. TJ followed.
As soon as Warrior arrived he began wolfing down food. There were four plates set out, and each seemed to be covered with some sort of casserole or thick stew, involving tofu chunks and meatless chili. TJ sat down and spooned some into his mouth, grimacing slightly at the taste. He had always hated tofu. Next to him Skipper devoured his plate with almost as much gusto as Warrior was. Ranger, however, hadn't touched his plate. TJ noticed this and started to worry. "You feeling okay, Ranger?" he asked.
"Actually, my foot really hurts," he said nonchalantly. But as he said it, he looked up at TJ and stared intensely into his eyes. Instantly TJ knew Ranger's foot was fine, and he needed to talk. "Really? Well, we need to take care of that! Did you manage to get us a room here?" Ranger had been given TJ's account number and a signed note that explained the situation to whomever it concerned; he often managed to set up financial situations long before TJ got involved.
"Yes," he answered, "I can show you where it is."
"Excellent," said TJ. Turning, he addressed Skipper and Warrior. "Guys, I'm going to the room and try and take care of Ranger. Warrior, stay put until Skipper is done, then follow him back to the room. Okay?"
The two Pokèmon didn't even look up, simply nodded from their face first positions.
"Right then." TJ scooped up Ranger and hurried to the room. "All right, what's up?"
Ranger sat down on the bed. "We got here at about five five-thirty," he began. "Don't ask me how I convinced Skipper to come here, I may need to use it again. Anyway, when we got here, there was a girl with dark brown hair and green eyes, wearing a magenta tank-top, denim jacket, jean skirt, a pair of leather boots, and fingerless gloves. Her name was-"
"Samantha McPhoenix!" interjected TJ. "Yeah, she was worried about her Mightyena! We ran across her on the way here, she helped us to get here! What about her?"
Ranger shifted uncomfortably. "Well, right after she left, her missing Mightyena showed up. Lucky for us Skipper was already in the room and I was sitting in an out of the way corner. This guy was beat up pretty bad inside. He was drooling blood, and even breathing seemed hard for him. I didn't get much of a look, because the nurse rushed him into the ER, but I got enough of one. The nurse said he drank some acid, but I know for a fact he didn't."
"What?" said TJ, "how do you know?"
"He was burned, all right, but not by acid," said Ranger. "He was burned by fire, lots of little fires going off in his mouth and rushing down his throat. I saw his face right as he was about to ram me this afternoon. That Mightyena was burned by Warrior."
TJ felt a very large lump in his stomach, and he realized he wouldn't be finishing his dinner tonight.
OOOOOOOO
Samantha was still sitting there waiting when he walked in. It was ten minutes to eleven, and the boys were still in the Cafeteria eating. Well, Skipper and Warrior were eating. Ranger was keeping an eye on Skipper to make sure he didn't go anywhere. TJ logged onto the system and brought up Samantha's trainer ID. "All right, you're all checked out. Kaz is in room 215, you can go back and pick him up. See you around."
"What?" said a surprised Samantha, "I thought you were staying here tonight?"
"I am," said TJ, "but the guys like to be early to bed and early to rise, and I'm actually pretty tired what with the day I had, so we're just gonna turn in and start early tomorrow. We're probably not even going in the same direction as you. So I guess we'll see you around sometime, huh?"
"Yeah, um, sure…" trailed off Samantha, obviously confused. TJ did not elaborate, he simply turned around and headed towards the Cafeteria. Samantha watched him leave, then shook her head and walked down the hall to the OR.
As soon as TJ walked into the Cafeteria, he was accosted by Ranger. "I tried to stop him, but he's just so darn fast! I'm sorry TJ. He made it to the door!"
TJ didn't bother asking what had happened. "Where's Warrior!"
"Right here," said a voice. TJ turned to find Warrior standing behind him.
"I told Warrior what's going on," said Ranger.
"We have to find him," said TJ. "Before Kaz does. He's been cleared to leave, and he'll be walking out of the OR any minute now."
"Right," said the two Pokèmon.
They split up, careful to stay in the shadows. Warrior poked around the reception area, hiding in case Samantha and Kaz showed up. He had worked out a signal with TJ and Ranger in case anyone saw Skipper, three short whistles. He was about to check another part of the hospital when he heard something small coming down the hall to the rooms for rent. Skipper burst into the room laughing. Unfortunately, Samantha and Kaz chose that moment to walk through the OR doors. There was a moment of silence as Skipper locked eyes with the large Mightyena. The two just stared dumbly at each other, unable to process the fact that they were both there. The silence was broken by Warrior whistling three times. Kaz snarled and started sprinting down the hall. Skipper squeaked in fright and tried to climb into a potted plant to hide, but Kaz merely shattered the pot and started tearing through the dirt looking for him. Samantha seemed confused, but she didn't call Kaz off. Just as Kaz was about to reach Skipper, TJ and Ranger burst into the room from opposite ends of the hall. Ranger didn't slow, hopping up to Pound Kaz in the face. Kaz, not expecting the attack, flew back and stopped himself right in front of Warrior's hiding place. He turned to face the new threat, but was surprised by Warrior jumping down behind him and spewing Embers. Skipper unburied himself from the potting soil, and leapt up in front of Kaz, terrified but determined to defend his injured brother. Ranger closed the circle.
"Hang on Kaz!" cried Samantha. "TJ! What's going on!"
"Well, if everyone just calms down, I'll tell you!" TJ cried back. Kaz was pacing in a small circle, facing his opponents in turn. For their part, the three Kanes stood there, guarding.
"TJ! Call off Warrior! That Mudkip hurt Kaz!"
TJ shook his head. "I'm not gonna let you hurt any of my guys, and you're wrong. Skipper didn't do a damn thing to Kaz."
Samantha gasped. "That Mudkip belongs to you!" she didn't allow him to explain their relationship. "Then Warrior, he, he—TJ! What's going on! Why did you attack Kaz!"
"Easy! It was self defense!"
"Tauros shit! Kaz would only attack you if he was provoked!" and Samantha reached for her Pokèballs.
TJ had moments before she unleashed another overpowered psycho on his brothers. Shrugging off his trenchcoat in one fluid motion, he whipped out his bat and hit Samantha squarely on the back of the head. He was gentler than he could have been, but he still knocked her senseless. Unfortunately the Pokèball Samantha had been reaching for rolled out of her hand and burst open. The Kanes cringed, dreading what horror was about to be unleashed.
"Pichu!"
The Kanes relaxed a little as the small yellow electric rat stood up. Kaz started snarling at it, and TJ read his expressions.
"Pichu! Attack them! They hurt Samantha!"
The little Pichu's face took on a stormy cast. He started charging up some sort of electric attack the three Kanes had no hope of withstanding. TJ did the only thing he could think of. Taking four long strides, he walked over to where Samantha lay senseless. He raised his bat and shouted, "PICHU!"
The little Pichu turned around curiously. He noticed the stupid man standing over Samantha with a bat. It looked like the stupid man was about to hurt Samantha! He prepared to fry the mean stupid man.
"DON'T EVEN THINK ABOUT IT YOU LITTLE YELLOW RAT! IN THE TWO SECONDS IT TAKES YOU TO KNOCK ME OUT, I'LL HAVE ENOUGH TIME TO SNAP HER NECK! STAND DOWN!"
"Chuuuuu…" Pichu and Kaz could have fried Spearow with their glares, but eventually they calmed down and just stood there, waiting for TJ to do something.
"All right," he panted, "All right. Kaz! You tried to kill us once today, and we beat you square. In fact we triumphed in the face of death and insurmountable odds. I think we deserve some congratulations, not to be attacked. You'd do the same thing if our positions were reversed. And while we're talking, why are you baiting travelers' Pokèmon with berries in the fields! It's not right, and we won't stand for it!" He panted for a few minutes, catching his breath. Everyone could feel the tension in the room. One false move and it would erupt.
"And Pichu," TJ continued, "your friend attacked us first. Yes, we hurt him dearly, but he hurt us dearly as well. Take a look at Warrior's neck, he's the Torchic. You see that bandage? Kaz did that. Your trainer wouldn't listen, because of how hurt Kaz was and how angry she was about it. But you can see I'm not lying! This is pointless! Kaz set a fatal trap with the local Poochyena pack, and we got caught. We escaped! This is not then! We just need to drop everything, and let bygones be bygones. Okay!"
Silence reigned for a few moments. Then Pichu cocked his head and nodded once, sharply. Just like that everyone sighed and relaxed. TJ put away his bat and put back on his coat. Then he bent down and began sitting Samantha up. She moaned and her eyes fluttered as she was moved.
OOOOOOOO
The next morning was business as usual at the Pokèmon Center. The only sign of the fight the previous night was a smattering of potting soil in the corner. The Kanes were up bright and early at 6 a.m., packed and ready to leave. They almost made it out the door without incident, but they were ambushed by the front sign.
"So, this was a strike and run, huh?"
They stopped. TJ turned and looked at Samantha. She looked all right, considering the fact that she must have a crushing headache. TJ shrugged.
"I wouldn't call it striking and running," he said. "We just discussed it and decided that there might be a potential problem between our two groups."
"You mean I might be upset that you beaned me in the head with a baseball bat and nearly mutilated my Mightyena's mouth," Samantha said dryly.
"Well yes," said TJ, "There is that."
Samantha sighed. "Kaz was just trying to help the local pack become better at defending themselves from trainers; it was supposed to be a normal battle. But you stepped in, and hit that pup, and everyone got upset, and it kind of spiraled down from there. It was just a big case of misunderstanding, and I'm just happy no one got killed."
TJ digested this statement for a moment. "In that case, please tender our apologies to Kaz, and next time tell him to ask for your help. It's safer that way."
Samantha laughed. "Yes, it probably is. I'll tell him; he may even forgive you sometime in the next three thousand years."
TJ bobbed his head. "Well, We're headed this way, and you said you were staying a little longer to let Kaz heal up, so I guess we'll see you around, huh?"
Samantha bobbed her head, then held it and groaned. "Yeah, later."
The Kanes started walking down the path. They made it about ten steps away when Samantha said, "hey."
TJ turned. "Yeah?"
"You were pretty good in that fight. I totally didn't see the bat coming, and you managed to get a lucky hit in on me. Not bad. Keep practicing. I see you four going places someday, and I should know. Because I've been places before, and I can always tell potential. Good luck."
The Kanes all smiled in unison. "Thanks," said TJ.
And then they walked off into the sunrise.
A/N:Tadaa! All finished! You know the drill, I love reviews. And I should have a new chapter up in two or three weeks. I hope. So enjoy!